<5S>7 

C3ZI 


STANDARD  RULES 
AND  USAGE 

LUELLA  CLAY  CARSON 


-i  r  n       ~~\  Q  H 


GIFT  OF 


English  Composition 


COMPILATION 

OF 

STANDARD  RULES  AND 
USAGE. 


BY 

LUELLA  CLAY  CARSON 

Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  English  Literature, 
University  of  Oregon 


REVISED    .EDITION 


1903 

The  J.  K.  Gill  Co.,  Publishers 
Portland,  Oregon 


Copyright,  1903 

BY 

THE  J.  K.  GILL  CO. 


"One  of  the  greatest  of  all  faults  in  speaking  and 
writing  is  this:  the  using  of  many  words  to  say  lit- 


tie."—  Cobbett 


"The  station  of  a  syllable  may  cloud  the  judg- 
ment of  a  council." — De  Quincey. 


"The  first  valuable  power  in  a  reasonable  mind, 
one  would  say,  is  the  power  of  plain  statement,  or 
the  power  to  receive  things  as  they  befall,  and  to 
transfer  the  picture  of  them  to  another  mind  un- 
altered."— Emerson. 


"After  all,  the  chief  stimulus  of  good  style  is  to 
possess  a  full,  rich,  complex  matter  to  grapple  with." 
—Pater. 


383324 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/englishcompositiOOcarsrich 


FOREWORD. 


The  following  rules  and  suggestions  were 
compiled  for  the  use  of  classes  in  the  English 
department  of  the  University  of  Oregon.  It  is 
hoped  that  they  may  also  be  valuable  to  students 
in  other  departments.  The  second  edition,  en- 
larged in  scope  and  illustration,  is  now  published 
in  answer  to  many  letters  from  teachers  in  Ore- 
gon and  adjoining  states,  and  with  the  hope  that 
it  will  be  found  a  useful  and  convenient  code  for 
good  English.  It  is  in  no  way  offered  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  any  part  of  either  grammar  or  rhetoric, 
but  rather  as  a  brief,  compact  and,  as  far  as  may 
be,  comprehensive  book  of  reference.  The  rules 
have  been,  in  the  main,  taken  from  standard 
authors  in  the  reference  library  of  the  university. 
Among  the  works  consulted  were  ^Teall's  Punc- 
tuation; Bigelow's  Hand-book  of  Punctuation; 
,  DeVinne's  The  Practice  of  Typography ;  Teall's 
English  Compound  Words  and  Phrases ;  Luce's 
Writing  for  the  Press ;  /Typography  of  The  New 
York  Evening  Post;  The  Mother  Tongue,  by 
Professors  Gardiner,  Kittredge  and  Miss  Arnold ; 
the  grammars  of  Professors  ^Whitney,  West, 
Maxwell,  and„  Carpenter ;  the  rhetorics  of  Pro- 


fessors,  Genung,  A.  S.  Hill,  Bain,  Wendell,  Scott 
and  Denney,  McElroy  and  Newcomer. 

It  is  desired  that  the  rules  and  examples  here 
collected  in  compact  form  may  prove  valuable  in 
suggestion  and  useful  for  reference  to  students  of 
English  in  high  schools,  colleges  and  offices ;  and 
to  all  whose  professions  or  occupations  demand 
readiness  in  correct  expression  by  spoken  and 
written  phrase.  In  the  main,  rules  commonly 
observed  in  practice  are  not  included.  An  at- 
tempt has  been  made  to  include  rules  that  are 
often  violated;  that  settle  doubtful  points;  that 
provide  for  fine  distinctions.  Blank  pages  and 
spaces  are  left  so  that  students  may  insert  rules 
and  illustrations  of  peculiar  personal  value. 

I  am  indebted  to  Miss  Ida  Bel  Roe  and  Miss 
Bertha  Ellsworth  Slater,  instructors  in  the  Eng- 
lish department,  for  compiling  many  of  these 
rules;  and  also  to  many  students  who,  since  the 
issue  of  the  first  edition  in  1899,  have  suggested 
rules  omitted  in  that  edition,  which  they  found 
valuable  in  revising  essays  and  in  attempting  to 
make  good  English  prose. 

I  wish  also  to  acknowledge  with  thanks  many 
valuable  suggestions  made  by  Mr.  John  Gill,  of 
Portland. 

LUELLA  CLAY  CARSON, 


University  of  Oregon,  May,  1903. 


CONTENTS 


Foreword. 

I.     Capitalization    I 

II.     Punctuation    5 

1.  The  Comma 5 

2.  The   Semicolon 8 

3.  The    Colon 10 

4.  The   Period-. 11 

5.  The  Interrogation  Point 13 

6.  The  Exclamation  Point 13 

7.  The  Dash 14 

III.  Special  Symbols   15 

1.  The    Apostrophe 15 

2.  Parentheses  and  Brackets 16 

3.  Quotations    16 

4.  Italics    18 

5.  Abbreviations    18 

6.  The  Hyphen 21 

7.  The   Caret 22 

IV.  Syllabification    22 

V.     Compounds    24 

VI.     Spelling    2J 

VII.     Citations    30 

VIII.     Poetry    31 


Vll 


IX.     Construction    32 

1.  Grammatical     Forms     and     Con- 

structions needing  Caution ....   32 

2.  Placing  of  Modifiers 37 

3.  Concord    38 

4.  Antecedents    39 

5.  Reference    39 

6.  Correlation    41 

7-  Unity 43 

8.  Emphasis    45 

9.  Coherence    47 

X.     Form    51 

1.  General    51 

2.  Outlines    53 

3.  Theses  and  Senior  Parts 54 

4.  Note-Books    55 

XL     Letter  Writing 57 

1.  General    Directions 57 

2.  Letter  Forms 60 

3.  Superscription    61 

4.  Invitations  (informal  and  formal)   61 
XII.     Copy  for  the  Printer 64 

1.  Form    64 

2.  Abbreviations    67 

3.  Miscellaneous    70 

4.  Phraseology    73 

XIII.  Style    76 

1 .  Vocabulary    76 

2.  Good   Usage 76 

XIV.  Recommendations    79 


viii 


I. 
CAPITALIZATION 


General    Rules   for   Capitals. 

The  following  words  should  begin  with  capitals: 

i.  The  first  word  after  a  period;  and,  usually, 
after  the  interrogation  point  and  the  exclamation 
point. 

2.  The  first  word  of  every  line  of  poetry. 

3.  The  first  word  of  an  exact  quotation  in  a 
direct  form ;  as,  "He  said,  'There  will  be  war/  " 

4.  The  first  word  of  every  direct  question; 
as,  "He  said,  'Who  will  go?'" 

5.  The  pronoun  I  and  the  interjection  O.  Oh 
only  when  it  begins  a  sentence. 

6.  Proper  nouns. 

1 


;/.  Adjectives  derived  from  proper  nouns,  un- 
less, by  long  usage,  they  have  lost  all  association 
with  the  nouns  from  which  they  are  derived ;  as, 
"Christian,"  "damask." 


8.  The  words  street,  river,  mountain,  etc., 
when  they  are  used  in  connection  with  proper 
names ;  as,  "Columbia  River." 


9.  The  words  north,  south,  east  and  west,  and 
their  compounds,  northeast,  etc.,  whenever  they 
refer  to  parts  of  the  country,  and  not  simply  to 
points  of  the  compass,  or  general  direction. 


10.  Names  of  the  days  of  the  week  and  the 
months  of  the  year.  This  rule  is  amplified  to 
include  days  of  feasts  and  fasts,  festivals  and 
holidays;  as,  "Tuesday,"  "Christmas,"  "Bank 
Holiday."  Do  not  capitalize  names  of  seasons ; 
as,  "She  came  in  the  summer." 


11.  Words  denoting  family  relations,  such  as 
father,  when  they  are  used  with  the  proper  name 
of  the  person  or  without  a  possessive  pronoun; 
as,  "Uncle  John." 


12.  Titles  of  honor  or  office  whenever  they 
are  used  in  a  formal  way,  or  in  connection  with 
a  proper  name;  as,  "General  Grant." 


13.  The  name  of  the  Deity  in  every  person, 
and  in  every  synonym  or  attribute ;  as,  "God,  the 
Supreme  Being." 

14.  Personal  pronouns  referring  to  the  Deity 
when  used  in  direct  address  without  an  antece- 
dent; or  to  prevent  confusion  where,  with  an 
antecedent,  other  pronouns  are  used. 

15.  The  words  Bible,  Scriptures,  etc.,  and  all 
names  of  books  and  parts  of  the  Bible. 

16.  Words  representing  important  events  in 
history  and  epochs  of  time,  political  parties  and 
religious  bodies;  as,  "the  Civil  War/'  "the 
Whigs,"  "Presbyterians." 

17.  Names  of  personified  objects;  as,  "There 
Honor  sleeps." 

18.  The  first  word  in  the  title  of  every  book, 
periodical,  play,  picture,  essay,  or  article  for 
magazine  or  newspaper,  and  usually  every  im- 
portant word  of  the  title. 

In  long  or  complex  titles  the  nouns  always 
may  be  capitalized;  important  verbs,  participles 
and  adjectives  usually;  articles,  prepositions  and 
conjunctions  rarely  or  never. 

Note:  Modern  usage  is  modifying  this  rule, 
especially  when  applied  to  citations,  summaries. 


running  titles,  and  tables  of  contents.  Recent 
English  books  of  high  merit  exclude  capitals 
from  all  words  but  those  that  begin  a  sentence 
or  are  proper  names. 

19.  Two  capitals  are  needed  in  a  compound 
title;  as,  "Attorney-General  Olney." 

20.  A  title  distinctly  intended  as  the  synonym 
of  a  particular  person  thereby  becomes  a  proper 
noun,  and  should  be  capitalized ;  as,  "He  sent  his 
credentials  to  the  President." 


21.  Capitalize  titles  of  dignity  or  courtesy  as 
follows:  your  Honor,  her  Majesty,  his  Royal 
Highness,  his  Excellency,  etc. ;  do  not  capitalize 
your  lordship,  sir,  your  honor,  madam,  monsieur, 
etc.,  when  used  as  complimentary  salutations 
within  the  text  of  a  sentence  or  paragraph  of 
dialogue  matter. 

22.  Do  not  capitalize  college  departments, 
classes,  professorships,  the  college,  the  university, 
the  society,  the  club,  consulate,  legations,  the  holy 
communion,  communion  service,  the  gospel  for 
the  whole  New  Testament ;  capitalize  the  Gospels 
for  the  books  called  "The  Gospel  according  to  St. 
Matthew,"  etc. 

23.  When  the  title  of  an  official  follows  his 
name,  the  capital  need  not  be  used  in  good  book- 


work  for  the  first  letter  of  that  title ;  as,  James  G. 
Blaine,  secretary  of  state.  In  official  documents 
it  is  common  to  capitalize  the  titles  of  potentates, 
even  when  they  follow  the  name;  as,  "Victoria, 
Empress  of  India." 


24.  When  only  the  title  of  a  person  is  men- 
tioned, preceded  by  the  article  the,  and  the  con- 
text shows  that  this  title  is  intended  for  one  per- 
son only,  it  should  have  a  capital ;  as,  "the  Pope," 
"the  Chief-Justice."  When  the  context  shows  that 
the  title  may  be  applied  to  two  or  more  persons, 
the  capital  should  not  be  used. 


II. 

PUNCTUATION. 


1.     Rules    for   the   Comma. 

A  comma  is  used  in  the  following  instances: 

1.  After  each  but  the  last  of  a  series  of  words 
or  phrases  each  of  which  has  the  same  connec- 
tion with  what  follows ;  as,  "Plain,  well-punc- 
tuated, and  otherwise  carefully  prepared  manu- 
script is  desirable." 


2.  To  separate  contrasted  words  or  phrases 
and  words  or  phrases  in  pairs ;  as,  "We  live  in 
deeds,  not  years. " 

3.  To  separate  vocative  words  or  expressions 
from  the  other  parts  of  the  sentence;  as,  "Ven- 
erable men,  you  have  come."  Exception :  If 
strong  emotion  is  to  be  indicated,  the  exclamation 
point  should  be  used  instead  of  the  comma. 

4.  To  separate  expressions  in  apposition  from 
the  context ;  as,  "Washington,  the  first  president, 
served." 

5.  To  separate  intermediate,  transposed,  and 
parenthetical  elements  from  the  context;  as, 
"Even  John,  they  say,  subscribed." 

6.  After  a  particle  standing  at  the  head  of  a 
sentence,  when  the  particle  implies  the  relation 
of  the  sentence  to  something  going  before ;  as, 
"Lastly,  the  action  is  not  feasible." 

7.  After  a  word  or  words  independently  be- 
ginning a  sentence;  as,  "Fortunately,  it  hap- 
pened so." 

8.  To  separate  adverbs  and  short  phrases, 
when  they  break  the  connection  between  closely 
related  parts  of  a  sentence,  from  the  other  por- 
tions of  the  sentence ;  as,  "There  are,  however, 
four  elements." 


g.  To  separate  dependent  and  conditional 
clauses,  commonly  introduced  by  such  words  as 
if,  when,  unless,  though,  etc.,  from  the  rest  of 
the  sentence,  unless  the  connection  is  very  close. 

10.  To  separate  a  relative  clause  which  is  not 
restrictive,  but  which  presents  an  additional 
thought,  from  the  rest  of  the  sentence. 

ii.  To  separate  a  restrictive  relative  pronoun, 
referring  to  each  of  a  series  of  nouns,  from  the 
series ;  as,  "We  visited  the  house,  the  mill,  the 
store,  that  Jack  built." 

12.  To  mark  the  omission  of  words ;  as,  "In 
war  he  was  warlike;  in  peace,  peaceable." 

13.  Before  short  and  informal  quotations; 
as,  "He  shouted,  'Come  in  V  " 

14.  To  separate  the  clauses  of  a  compound 
sentence  when  simple  in  construction. 

15.  To  separate  a  long  or  involved  subject 
from  its  verb. 

16.  When  two  statements,  each  with  its  own 
subject,  verb,  and  object,  are  put  in  one  sentence, 
the  comma  should  be  used  to  show  their  dis- 
tinctiveness;  as,  "John  saw  William,  and  Wil- 
liam saw  Susan." 


ly.  Phrases  and  clauses  which,  by  inversion, 
are  placed  at  the  beginning  of  sentences,  are  usu- 
ally followed  by  a  comma;  though  if  the  phrase 
is  a  short  one  it  is  not  always  so  set  off. 

1 8.  A  restrictive  clause  should  be  preceded  by 
a  comma,  if  several  words  come  between  the  rela- 
tive pronoun  and  its  antecedent;  as,  "No  Amei- 
ican  could  have  died,  who  would  have  been  more 
universally  mourned  than  Longfellow." 

19.  A  title  or  degree,  following  a  name, 
should  be  separated  from  the  name  by  a  comma. 

20.  In  general,  use  commas  only  when  they 
will  be  of  service  in  unfolding  the  sense.  In  case 
of  doubt,  omit  the  comma. 


2.     Rules  for  the  Semicolon. 

A  semicolon  is  used  in  the  following  instances: 

1.  To  separate  members  of  a  compound  sen- 
tence when  they  are  complex  or  loosely  con- 
nected, or  when  they  contain  commas ;  as, 
"Writers  should  know  how  to  punctuate,  and 
should  do  it  carefully ;  for  they  alone  can  always 
be  sure,  with  proper  care,  that  the  sense  is  not 
perverted  by  wrong  pointing." 


I 


2.  To  separate  clauses  which  have  a  common 
dependence.  If  the  clause  upon  which  they  all 
depend  comes  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence, 
the  clauses  should  be  separated  from  it  by  a 
comma;  if  it  is  placed  at  the  end,  the  comma 
should  be  followed  by  a  dash ;  as,  "How  we  have 
fared  since  then ;  what  woful  schemes  have  been 
adopted  ;  what  doing  and  undoing, — it  is  a  tedious 
task  to  recount." 


3.  Before  as,  viz.,  e.  g.,  i.  e.,  or  the  full  words 
of  these  abbreviations,  when  they  introduce  an 
example  or  specification  of  particulars. 


4.  In  all  sentences  that  contain  two  or  more 
members,  when  each  member  makes  a  distinct 
statement,  with  some  dependence  on  statements 
in  the  other  member  or  members  ;  as,  "Some  place 
their  bliss  in  action,  some  in  ease;  those  call  it 
pleasure,  and  contentment,  these." 


5.  In  order  to  give  separateness  to  important 
details,  the  semicolon  is  sometimes  used  to  set  off 
portions  merely  phrasal  in  form;  as,  "Of  regular 
soldiers,  there  were  nine  thousand ;  of  volunteers, 
a  thousand ;  of  priests,  six  hundred." 


6.  In  general,  the  semicolon  is  used  to  set 
off  some  phase  of  explanation,  opposition,  repe- 
tition, consequence  or  contrast ;  and,  in  the  more 
loosely  related  subject-matter,  clauses  of  detail 
or  common  bearing.  Let  the  writer  observe 
these  logical  dependencies,  and  the  semicolon  sup- 
plies itself. 


3.     Rules  for  the  Colon. 

The  colon  is  used  in  the  following  instances: 

1.  To  introduce  (1)  a  phrase  or  sentence 
added  as  an  explanation  of  a  word  or  sentence; 
(2)  a  series  of  statements  or  specifications  when 
formally  introduced  by  a  general  statement  or  by 
thus,  as  follows,  this,  namely,  etc. ;  as,  "Rhetoric : 
exposition  of  the  laws  of  effective  discourse" ; 
"We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident :  that  all 
men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by 
their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights." 

2.  To  separate  two  members  of  a  compound 
sentence  subdivided  by  semicolons. 

3.  To  separate  from  a  complete  sentence,  a 
clause  not  introduced  by  a  connecting  word,  but 
definitely  prepared  for  by  the  previous  sentence; 
as,  "And  thus  we  bring  the  matter  at  once  to  the 
test :  is  the  evidence  conclusive  ?" 

10 


4-  To  introduce  long,  formal  quotations  when 
the  connection  is  close.  If  the  quotation  begins 
on  a  new  line  or  occupies  several  paragraphs, 
the  colon  should  be  followed  by  a  dash.  When 
the  quotation  is  short,  a  comma  is  used. 


5.  After  the  complimentary  salution  in  a  let- 
ter or  an  address ;  as,  "Dear  Sir :" 


6.  In  general,  use  the  colon  to  introduce 
some  detail  or  item  that  the  language  preceding 
has  made  ready  for.  There  is  rarely  any  neces- 
sity for  more  than  one  colon  in  any  sentence. 


4-     Rules  for  the  Period. 

The  period  is  used  in  the  follozving  instances: 

1.  To  mark  the  completion  of  every  sentence 
which  is  neither  interrogative  nor  exclamatory. 

2.  After  abbreviations ;  as,  D.  D.,  viz. 


3.  After  every  heading  or  sub-heading, 
whether  in  a  separate  line  or  at  the  beginning  of 
a  paragraph,  or  over  a  column  of  figures  in  tabu- 
lar work;  also  after  the  address  of  a  letter  or 

11 


I 


printed  document,  as  well  as  after  the  signature. 
After  a  heading  at  the  beginning  of  a  paragraph 
the  period  should  be  followed  by  a  dash. 


4.  After  roman  numerals,  except  when  they 
are  used  for  numbering  pages ;  as,  "Carlyle's 
French  Revolution,  Vol.  I.  p.  205." 


5.  After  arabic  numerals  used  for  number- 
ing paragraphs,  or  lists  of  particulars  in  the  same 
paragraph ;  also  when  they  are  used  for  refer- 
ences to  different  divisions  of  a  book. 


6.  References  to  foot-notes,  whether  figures, 
letters,  or  the  common  reference  marks,  should 
have  no  period  or  other  mark  after  them.  Some- 
times parentheses  are  used,  but  they  are  unnec- 
essary. 


7.  To  denote  an  omission  in  a  -quotation, 
where  it  is  not  desired  to  give  the  whole  of  it; 
when  part  of  a  sentence  is  omitted,  four  periods 
are  commonly  used,  with  spaces  between  them; 
when  a  paragraph  is  omitted,  a  line  of  five  or  six 
periods  is  generally  used. 


8.  The  period  is  now  omitted  at  the  termina- 
tion of  displayed  lines  in  title-pages  and  pro- 
grammes. 

12 


I 


I 


5.     Rules  for  the  Interrogation  Point. 

The  interrogation  point  is  used  in  the  following 
instances: 

i.  After  every  sentence  or  expression  asking 
a  direct  question;  as,  "Shall  a  man  obtain  a 
wider  horizon  without  broader  knowledge  ?  with- 
out deeper  sacrifice?" 

2.  When  a  question  forms  part  of  a  larger 
sentence ;  as,  "They  asked,  'What  do  you  propose 
to  do?'  in  a  direct  manner." 


3;  In  parentheses  to  express  doubt;  as,  "In 
the  time  of  Homer  850 (?)   B.  C." 


6.     Rules  for  the  Exclamation  Point. 

The  exclamation  point  is  used  in  the  following 
instances : 

1.  After  interjections,  and  all  words,  phrases, 
and  sentences,  that  express  strong  emotion;  as, 
"Rouse,  ye  Romans !  rouse,  ye  slaves !" 

Note:  When  O  is  used  before  the  nomina- 
tive of  address,  the  exclamation  point  follows 
the  noun;  as,  "O  Scotia!  my  dear,  my  native 
soil  r 

13 


2.  To  express  doubt  or  sarcasm;  as,  "He  an 
honorable  man !" 


3.  The  exclamation  point,  when  properly 
used,  gives  force  and  point  to  language.  The 
Book  of  Job  and  the  Psalms  show  that  this  point 
is  most  effective  when  sparingly  used. 


7.     Rules  for  the  Dash. 

The  dash  is  used  in  the  follozving  instances: 

1.  Before  and  after  a  parenthetical  clause 
that  is  too  closely  connected  with  the  whole  sen- 
tence to  be  enclosed  in  parentheses,  and  yet  re- 
quires for  its  ready  comprehension  to  be  distinctly 
separated  from  the  other  parts  of  the  sentence. 
Commas  should  be  used  before  the  dashes  only 
where  a  comma  would  be  necessary  if  the  sen- 
tence included  between  the  dashes  were  omitted. 


2.  When  the  construction  of  a  sentence  is 
changed  or  suspended,  and  the  sentence  con- 
cluded in  an  unexpected  manner,  or  with  an  epi- 
grammatic turn  of  thought ;  as,  "You  have  given 
the  command  to  a  person  of  illustrious  birth,  of 
ancient  family,  but — of  no  experience." 

14 


3-  To  separate  a  heading  at  the  beginning  of 
a  paragraph  from  the  subject  matter  following; 
and  before  an  authority  when  it  is  given  at  the 
end  of  a  quotation. 

4.  To  specify  a  period  of  time  by  connecting 
dates ;  as,  i860 — 1890.  Also,  to  define  a  reference 
to  a  passage  in  the  pages  of  any  book;  as,  pp. 
17—23. 


III. 

SPECIAL   SYMBOLS. 

1.     Apostrophe. 

The  apostrophe  is  used  in  the  follozving  instances: 

1.  To  denote  possessive  case  of  common  and 
proper  nouns  and  a  few  indefinite  pronouns ;  as, 
"The  ladies'  hats" ;   "This  one's  opinion." 

Note :  There  is  no  apostrophe  in  the  posses- 
sive pronoun ;  ifs  is  a  contraction  for  it  is. 

2.  To  mark  the  elision  of  a  syllable  in  poetry 
or  in  familiar  dialogue ;  also,  the  elision  of  letters 
in  a  word ;  as,  "Thou  ling'ring  star." 

3.  To  denote  the  elision  of  the  century  in 
dates;  as,  '98. 

15 


4-  To  denote  the  plural  of  figures,  letters,  and 
signs;  as,  p's  and  q's. 


2.     Parentheses  and  Brackets. 

1.  Parentheses  are  used  to  inclose  an  expla- 
nation, authority,  definition,  reference,  transla- 
tion, or  other  matter  not  strictly  belonging  to  the 
sentence.  They  are  now  seldom  used  for  any 
other  purpose. 

2.  Brackets  are  restricted  in  their  use  to  in- 
terpolation, corrections,  notes,  or  explanations 
made  by  writers  in  quotations  from  others. 

3.  Parentheses  always  inclose  remarks  ap- 
parently made  by  the  writer  of  the  text.  Brackets 
inclose  remarks  certainly  made  by  the  editor  or 
reporter  of  the  text. 

4.  A  complete  sentence  inclosed  in  paren- 
theses, should  have  the  point  inside  the  parenthe- 
sis;  when  part  of  a  sentence  is  so  inclosed,  the 
point  should  be  after  the  parenthesis. 


3.     Quotations. 

1.  Marks  of  quotation  ("  ")  are  used  to 
indicate  a  passage  quoted  from  another  author, 
or  from  the  writer  himself. 

16 


2.  Titles  of  books,  newspapers,  pictures,  etc., 
when  formally  given,  are  quoted ;  but  care  should 
be  taken  to  give  with  precision  the  exact  words. 
When  such  titles  are  well  known, — as  the  Iliad, 
the  Nation, — it  is  not  necessary  to  use  quota- 
tion marks. 


3.  When  one  quotation  occurs  within  another, 
single  marks  only  should  be  used. 


4.  When  special  attention  is  invited  to  any 
word  or  expression,  it  may  be  inclosed  in  single 
quote-marks ;  as,  "By  'experiment'  is  meant  the 
process  of  altering  the  arrangements  presented 
by  nature." 

5.  In  a  succession  of  quoted  paragraphs  the 
inverted  commas  are  used  at  the  beginning  of 
each  paragraph,  but  the  apostrophes  are  used  at 
the  close  of  the  last  paragraph  only. 


6.  Many  phrases  in  the  Bible,  in  Shakespeare, 
Milton,  and  other  famous  authors  have  become 
common  possessions,  and  their  origin  and  value 
should  be  known  to  every  reader.  To  fence  in 
with  quote-marks  phrases  like  these — the  ob- 
served of  all  observers ;  but  the  greatest  of  these 
is  charity — implies  a  low  estimate  of  the  reader's 
knowledge  of  literature.  This  remark  may  ap- 
ply also  to  trite  proverbs  and  hackneyed  sayings, 
which  do  not  need  quote-marks. 

17 


4-     Italics. 

i.  All  foreign  words  and  expressions  not  in- 
corporated in  the  English  language,  if  written 
with  our  alphabet,  should  be  italicized  whenever 
they  occur  in  an  English  sentence.  But  the 
common  Latin  abbrevations,  e.  g.,  i.  e.,  etc.,  viz., 
are  usually  written  in  roman. 

Note :  Written  words  intended  to  be  italicized 
should  be  underscored. 


2.  Foreign  words  and  phrases,  that  have  been 
practically  incorporated  in  the  English  language, 
are  now  put  in  roman ;  as,  alma  mater,  verbatim. 


3.  The  employment  of  italics  for  emphasis, 
generally  indicates  lack  of  definite  thought  and 
skill  in  composition. 


5.     Abbreviations. 

1.  In  all  formal  composition,  abbreviations 
should  be  as  far  as  possible  avoided.  Mr.,  Mrs., 
Messrs.,  Hon.,  Right  Hon.,  Jr.,  Sr.,  Esq.,  Rev., 
Right  Rev.,  Dr.,  Pres.,  Prof.,  Gov.  are  tolerated 
in  newspapers  and  magazines,  and  even  in  some 
books,  but  it  is  more  decorous  to  spell  out  all 
the  words  in  the  preceding  list  except  Mr.,  Mrs., 
Messrs.,  Jr.,  and  Sr.   In  newspapers  Gen.,  Capt., 

18 


Col.,  and  Maj.  are  sometimes  allowed,  but  in 
book-work  these  titles  should  be  in  full.  When 
the  title  is  double  and  is  connected  with  a  hyphen, 
as  in  Brig.-Generar,  both  parts  take  a  capital  let- 
ter. Do  not  capitalize  ex  prefixed  to  a  title;  as, 
ex-President. 


2.  The  title  Professor,  when  frequently  oc- 
curring, may  be  properly  abbreviated,  especially 
when  only  the  initials  of  the  name  are  given  (as 
Prof.  J.  N.  Brown)  ;  otherwise  the  title  may  seem 
more  prominent  than  the  name.  If  the  name  be 
written  in  full,  or  without  initials,  it  is  better  to 
write  the  title  in  full;  as,  "Professor  Brown." 


3.  Honorable  and  Reverend  should  be  pre- 
ceded by  the,  and  should  not  be  used  with  a  sur- 
name alone;  Mr.  should  be  inserted  if  other 
names  or  initials  be  lacking ;  as,  "The  Rev. 
Mr.  Jones,"  or  "The  Hon.  John  Brown."  Never 
use  "Rev.  Black,"  or  "The  Rev.  Black." 


4.  Honorary  degrees  and  titles  after  a  name, 
or  initial  letters  indicating  membership  of  a  so- 
ciety, as  D.  D.,  M.  P.,  F.  G.  S.,  are  universally  al- 
lowed. Do  not,  however,  put  a  title  before  and 
another  after  a  man's  name. 


5.  The  abbreviations  A.  D.,  B.  C,  a.  m.,  p.  m., 
etc.,  e.  g.,  i.  e.,  viz.,  and,  in  letters,  inst,  prox., 
ult.,  P.  S.  are  in  common  use. 

19 


6.  In  ordinary  writings  all  dates  should  be  in 
arabic  figures,  but  when  they  appear  in  formal 
notes  and  legal  documents  words  should  be  used. 
When  the  numerical  day  of  the  month  precedes 
the  month  it  should  appear  as  ipth  April  or  22d 
April.  When  it  follows  the  month,  the  th  or  d  is 
not  required;  it  should  be  April  10  or  April  22. 
The  use  of  2nd  or  3rd,  common  in  England,  is 
not  to  be  commended ;  2d  or  3d  is  a  more  ac- 
ceptable abbreviation.  The  date  should  be  spelled 
out  in  full  in  a  document ;  as,  "The  tenth  day  of 
April." 


7.  Numbers  usually  should  be  spelled  out. 
However,  figures  are  used  sometimes  when  a 
number  reaches  into  thousands  or  higher;  when 
there  are  many  numbers  which  it  is  desirable  that 
the  eye  should  readily  catch ;  when  the  matter  is 
technical. 


8.  Time  should  be  spelled  out;  as,  nine 
o'clock,  half  past  nine ;  or,  written  in  figures ;  as, 
9 130,  9 145 ;  never  write  half  past  9,  or  9  o'clock. 

9.  Roman  numerals  followed  by  a  period  may 
be  used  to  designate  rulers ;  as,  "Edward  VI.  of 
England." 

10.  In  foot-notes,  citations,  etc.,  abbreviations 
and  numerals  are  commonly  used,  and  commas 

20 


after  such   expressions   are   frequently   omitted; 
as,    Ruskin:     Mod.    Painters,    Vol.    I.    Part    II. 
Sec.  I.  Chap.  VII.  pp.  237—239 ; 
II.  Chron.  xxiv.  2  (or,  2  Chron.  24:2)  ; 
Atlantic  Monthly,  Nov.  1902,  p.  579,  The  New 
Ethics,  W.  D.  Hyde. 


6.     The  Hyphen. 

A  hyphen  is  used  in  the  follozving  instances: 

1.  Between  the  parts  of  a  compound  word 
that  has  not  by  usage  become  a  single  word.  (See 
compounds). 

2.  To  unite  a  prefix  ending  with  a  vowel  to 
a  word  beginning  with  a  vowel ;  as,  re-enact. 


3.  When  the  meaning  or  pronunciation  would 
be  obscured  without  the  hyphen;  as,  re-collect. 


4.  At  the  end  of  a  line,  when  a  part  of  the 
last  word  is  carried  over  to  the  next  line. 

Note:  In  dividing  words,  syllables  should 
never  be  broken,  but  the  word  should  be  sepa- 
rated by  closing  the  line  with  a  full  syllable  fol- 
lowed by  a  hyphen,  and  beginning  the  next  line 
with  the  next  syllable. 

21 


7.     The  Caret. 

i.  If  a  letter,  a  word,  or  an  expression  is 
omitted  a  caret  (a)  is  placed  where  the  omission 
occurs,  and  the  omitted  part  interlined. 


IV., 
SYLLABIFICATION. 

In  dividing  words  syllables  should  never  be 
broken. 

Divisions. 

i.  Divide  on  the  long  or  obscure  vowel  before 
a  single  consonant. 

ca-pa-ble  ig-no-rant  sep-a-ra-ble 

me-tal-lic  bi-tu-mi-nous  deg-ra-da-tion 


2.  Divide  on  the  consonant  following  a  short 
vowel. 

ca-pac-i-ty                 sep-a-ra-ble  gov-ern 

for-eign                        ex-am-i-na-tion  me-dic-i-nal 

nec-es-sa-ry               prob-a-ble  bi-met-al-lism 

me-chan-i-cal            prop-er-ty  phil-o-soph-i-cal 

22 


3-  Divide  on  the  consonant,  or  the  latter  of 
two  consonants,  when  such  division  leaves  a 
complete  word  without  change  of  accent  (not 
when  the  accent  changes),  except  as  in  next 
paragraph. 


civ-il-ize 
or-gan-ize 
ap-pear-ance 
vig-or-ous 


char-ac-ter-is-tic 
de-mon-ism 
mal-o-dor-ous 
par-don-a-ble 


per-son-ate 
re-mark-a-ble 
gild-ed 
bound-ing 


4.  Divide  on  the  first  of  two  consonants  sep- 
arately sounded,  even  when  a  complete  word 
would  include  both  consonants ;  on  the  first  of 
three  consonants  when  the  other  two  combine  in 
one  sound ;  on  the  second  of  three  when  the  first 
two  combine. 


bi-og-ra-phy 

deg-ra-da-tion 

de-tec-tive 

con-tra-dic-to-ry 

cor-re-spon-dent 

im-por-tant 

moun-tain 

sub-jec-tive 

rep-re-sent 


con-duc-tor 

ef-fec-tu-al 

con-sis-tent 

de-fen-dant 

de-pen-dent 

or-na-men-tal 

tri-um-phant 

an-chor 

rep-re-sen-ta-tion 


foun-dry 

ex-is-tence 

sec-re-ta-ry 

pas -sage 

suc-ces-sive 

hin-drance 

han-dling 

ex-tinc-tion 

pre-sump-tive 


5.  Divide  so  as  to  preserve  as  syllables  cial, 
cian,  cient,  Hon,  tious,  and  similar  terminations. 


ben-e-fi-cial 
op-ti-cian 


ef-fi-cient 
pe-ti-tion 


pre-ten-tious 
in-i-tial 


'23 


6.  Divide  so  as  to  preserve  as  syllables  ed, 
en,  er,  eth.  and  ing,  except  where  a  final  conso- 
nant is  doubled. 


op-pos-er 

tak-en 

mak-ing 

read-er 

speak-eth 

rid-den 

mod-el-ing 

ad-mit-ting 

pre-fer-red 

7.  Divide  so  as  to  preserve  the  prefixes  be, 
sub,  trans  (except  in  words  like  tran-scribe  and 
tran-script),  and  others  that  represent  a  distinct 
meaning  in  the  sense  of  the  word. 

be-stride  sub-or-di-nate  trans-at-lan-tic 

be-lit-tle  sub-urb  trans-al-pine 

sub-al-tern  sub-a-que-ous  trans-ac-tion 

tran-scend  tran-spire  tran.-sub-stan-ti-ate 


v. 
COMPOUNDS. 

i.  Two  nouns  used  together  as  one  name,  in 
such  a  way  that  the  first  does  not  convey  a  de- 
scriptive or  attributive  sense,  or  so  that  the  two 
are  not  in  apposition,  form  a  compound  noun; 
as,  air-drill,  iron-wood. 

2.  When  the  sense  is  clearly  literal,  the  two 
nouns  are  commonly  joined  by  a  hyphen;  as, 
paint-brush,  hat-box. 

24 


Notes  : 

(i)  Some  compounds  analogical  with  the 
above  rule  have  become  consolidated  through  fa- 
miliar use;  as,  eyelid,  sunbeam. 


(2)  Some  words  are  so  frequently  used  after 
and  in  intimate  union  with  others,  that  they  are 
instinctively  treated  as  if  they  were  suffixes,  and 
the  unified  term  is  written  in  solid  form;  as, 
milkweed,  railway,  stairway. 


3.  A  noun  or  an  adjective  made  by  adding 
a  suffix  to  a  proper  name  composed  of  two 
words  should  be  compounded ;  as,  East-Indian, 
New-Yorker. 

Note:  The  names  without  inflection  should 
never  be  compounded.  Thus,  a  New  York  man, 
East  India  Company. 


4.  Any  pair  or  series  of  words  arbitrarily  as- 
sociated, in  a  joint  sense  not  properly  inherent 
in  them  in  separate  words,  should  be  com- 
pounded;  as,  crane's-bill,  jet-black,  will-o'-the- 
wisp. 

Note:  This  rule  really  covers  all  compound- 
ing; and  the  rules  for  the  hyphen  already  cited, 

25 


in   general,   apply   equally   well   to   all   parts   of 
speech.     The  following  are  some  special  points: 

The  hyphen  should  be  used, 

( i )   When  the  compound  is  made  up  of  more 
than  two  parts ;  as,  forget-me-not. 

(2)   If  the  parts  do  not  fully  coalesce;  as, 
to-morrow. 


(3)  If  the  compound  is  new  or  uncommon; 
as,  make-believe. 

(4)  When  prefixes  or  co-ordinate  parts  stand 
before  a  capital  letter;  as,  anti-Harrison. 

(5)  When  a  noun,  adjective,  or  adverb  is 
compounded  with  a  present  or  perfect  participle ; 
as,  good-looking. 

'(6)  In  numerals  from  twenty  to  one  hun- 
dred ;  as,  eighty-nine. 

(7)  To  join  military  and  civil  titles ;  as,  Vice- 
President. 


(8)   In  compounds  with  half,  quarter,  all,  and 
self ;  as,  all-wise,  self-esteem. 

26 


VI. 
SPELLING. 

1.  Final  e  silent  is  dropped  before  a  suffix  be- 
ginning with  a  vowel;  as  grieve,  grievance. 

Exceptions:  Words  ending  in  ce  and  ge, 
retain  e  before  ous  and  able;  as,  peaceable,  out- 
rageous, changeable. 

2.  Final  e  silent  is  retained  before  suffixes  be- 
ginning with  a  consonant ;  as,  pale,  paleness. 

Exceptions:  Abridgment,  judgment,  lodg- 
ment, acknowledgment,  truly. 

3.  Monosyllables  and  polysyllables  accented 
on  the  last  syllable,  when  they  end  in  a  single 
consonant  preceded  by  a  single  vowel,  double  the 
final  consonant  before  a  suffix  beginning  with  a 
vowel ;  as,  thin,  thinner. 

4.  Derivatives  formed  by  prefixing  one  or 
more  syllables  to  words  ending  in  a  double  con- 
sonant generally  retain  both  consonants ;  as, 
misspell. 

Exceptions :  Until,  and  adjectives  terminating 
in  ful. 

5.  Compounds  generally  retain  the  spelling  of 
the  simple  words  composing  them. 

27 


Exceptions  to  this  rule  occur  in  some  com- 
pounds written  without  the  hyphen.  The  most 
common  are  compounds  of  full,  all,  well  and 
mass;  as,  almighty,  grateful,  Christmas. 


6.  Adjectives  ending  in  able  or  ible;  as,  com- 
mendable, feasible: 

Adjectives  derived  from  the  Latin  end  in 
able  or  ible,  according  to  their  derivation  from 
words  ending  in  abilis  or  ibilis;  as,  mutable, 
visible. 

English  derivatives  generally  end  in  able;  as, 
peaceable,  thinkable,  salable. 


7.  Arrangement  of  i  and  e  in  a  digraph : 

"I  before  e 

Except  after  c, 

Or  when  sounded  as  a 

As  in  neighbor  and  weigh." 

Exceptions :  weird,  financier,  leisure,  seize, 
neither.  Another  determining  rule  is  that  i  fol- 
lows I,  e  follows  c;  as,  believe,  receive. 


8.  Nouns  ending  with  0  or  i,  preceded  by  a 
consonant,  add  es  to  form  the  plural;  as,  veto, 
vetoes,  alkali,  alkalies. 

28 


Exceptions :  canto,  duodecimo,  halo,  junto, 
lasso,  memento,  octavo,  proviso,  piano,  solo,  tyro. 

9.  Compounded  nouns  form  the  plural  by 
adding  the  »?  to  the  principal  word ;  as,  sons-in- 
law,  stepsons. 

Exceptions :  men-servants,  women-servants, 
(Biblical  forms). 

10.  The  plural  of  nouns  ending  in  ful  is  gen- 
erally made  by  adding  the  s  to  the  ending  syl- 
lable ;  as,  handfuls,  spoonfuls. 

11.  Nouns  ending  in  y  preceded  by  a  conso- 
nant change  the  y  to  ies  to  form  the  plural;  as, 
spy,  spies;  valley,  valleys. 

\2.  Nouns  in  common  use,  derived  from  for- 
eign languages,  usually  form  their  plurals  ac- 
cording to  the  general  English  rule;  as,  cherub, 
cherubs, 

13.  Do  not  double  /  or  p  of  unaccented  sylla- 
bles before  the  terminations  ed,  er,  ing;  as, 
equaled,  traveler,  worshiping. 

14.  These  words  conform  to  the  British  spell- 
ing in  ise :  advertise,  criticise,  enterprise,  mer- 
chandise. 

15.  Retain  the  double  letter  in  derivatives 
formed  by  adding  ness,  ful;  as,  fullness,  skillful. 

29 


16.  Words  ending  in  s  and  z  form  the  pos- 
sessive by  adding  the  apostrophe  only ;  as,  "Mr. 
Moss  house." 


VII. 

CITATIONS. 

i.  Locate  quotations  or  references  to  author- 
ity by  giving  the  author's  name,  the  name  of  the 
book,  the  number  of  the  volume  and  the  page  at 
the  foot  of  your  page.  When  the  reference  is 
to  a  magazine,  cite  author,  title  of  article,  maga- 
zine, month,  year,  and  page. 


2.  In  referring  to  general  works,  the  first 
division,  whether  volume,  part,  or  act,  should  be 
in  roman  numerals  in  capitals ;  the  others  in 
arabic  numerals ;  as,  "Prescott's  Conquest  of 
Mexico,  Vol.  I.  pp.  220 — 229." 


3.  There  should  always  be  a  comma  between 
the  author's  name  and  the  title  of  the  work,  un- 
less the  name  is  put  in  the  possessive  case  or  a 
connecting  particle  is  used;  as,  "De  Vinne,  Cor- 
rect Composition,  p.  40." 


4-  References  to  foot-notes,  whether  figures, 
letters,  or  the  common  reference  marks,  should 
have  no  period  or  other  mark  after  them. 


5.  All  customary  marks  of  punctuation  and 
abbreviation  must  be  carefully  observed  in  writ- 
ing citations. 


VIII. 

POETRY. 

Poetry  must  always  be  quoted  in  the  form  in 
which  it  is  printed.  The  first  verse  quoted  should 
be  set  on  a  line  by  itself  and  written  across  the 
page.  The  other  verses  should  follow  as  printed. 
In  case  of  omission  of  any  verse  or  verses,  pe- 
riods should  be  used,  and  when  the  quotation  is 
resumed  it  should  be  begun  at  that  part  of  the 
line  corresponding  with  the  printed  form.  When 
only  one  verse  or  part  of  a  verse  is  quoted  it 
need  not  be  set  on  a  separate  line,  but  quotation 
marks  should  be  used  unless  the  passage  is  a 
common  possession. 

31 


IX. 

CONSTRUCTION 


Gram- 
matical 
Forms 
and  Con- 
structions 
needing 
Caution. 


i.  Be  heedful  of  foreign  and  ir- 
regular plurals. 

2.  With  two  objects  use  compar- 
ative degree;  with  more  than  two, 
superlative. 


3.  Words  used  after  a  compara- 
tive should  exclude  the  subject  of 
the  comparison ;  words  used  after  a 
superlative  should  include  the  sub- 
ject of  comparison;  as,  "He  was 
taller  than  any  other  man  present." 


4.  Avoid  the  use  of  the  "misre- 
lated  participle."  Whenever  a  par- 
ticipial construction  is  used,  the  ex- 
act noun  or  pronoun  to  which  the 
participle  is  attached  should  be  ex- 
pressed. Incorrect :  " Coming  down 
the  road  a  little  stream  greeted  us." 


5.  Use  the  possessive  case  before 
a  participial  noun ;  as,  "I  read  of 
Mary's  going"    (not  Mary). 


32 


6.  Use  the  present  tense  to  ex-  Grammatical 

press  general  and  universal  truths ;  Forms  and 

as,  "The  incident  taught  that  eternal  Construc- 

vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty."  tions  needing 


7.  Determine  principal  tenses  by 
the  exact  time  of  the  action. 


8.  Reckon  the  tenses  of  depend- 
ent clauses  and  infinitives  according 
to  their  relation  to  the  principal 
tense;  as,  "I  intended  to  go,"  not, 
"I  intended  to  have  gone." 

9.  When  several  infinitives  oc- 
cur in  sequence  the  word  on  which 
each  depends  should  be  made  ob- 
vious ;  as,  "He  wished  to  take  his 
father  with  him  to  gain  entrance 
and  find  the  magistrate."  If  the 
son  wished  to  take,  gain,  and  find, 
place  commas  after  him  and  en- 
trance. If  the  father,  change  the 
construction,  "who  would  gain," 
etc. 


10.  For  simple  futurity  use  shall 
in  the  first  person,  will  in  the  second 
and  third  persons ;  for  determina- 
tion, command,  willingness,  reverse 
this  usage. 


Caution- 
continued. 


Grammatical 
Forms  and 
Construc- 
tions needing 
Caution — 
continued. 


v  ii.  In  a  question  use  the  form 
that,  according  to  the  rule,  belongs 
to  the  answer ;  as,  "Shall  you  go  ?" 
"I  shall  go." 


v  12.  In  indirect  quotations  use 
the  form  that  would  be  used  in  the 
direct;  as,  "He  declares  that  he 
shall  go  if  he  is  not  elected."  (Di- 
rect, "I  shall  go,  etc.") 


13.  Make  the  same  distinctions 
between  should  and  would  as  be- 
tween shall  and  will. 


14.  Avoid  the  use  of  the  "cleft 
infinitive."  The  infinitive  should 
not  be  divided  by  an  adverb  between 
the  preposition  to  and  the  verb;  in- 
correct, "to  so  present."  Place  the 
adverb  either  before  or  after  the 
infinitive. 


15.  In  conditional  clauses  use  in- 
dicative mood  when  the  condition  is 
assumed  as  a  fact  or  a  mere  uncer- 
tainty ;  subj  unctive  when  it 
doubtful;  as,  "If  it  is  raining 
shall  go" ;  or 
shall  go." 


is 

I 
If  it   be  raining  I 


34 


1 6.  The    present    subjunctive    is   Grammatical 
used   to   express   a   future   contin-  Forms  and 
gency ;  as,  "If  he  be  there  I  will  see  Construe- 
him."  tions  needing 

Caution — 

17.  The  past  subjunctive  is  used  continued. 

( 1 )  to  express  a  supposition  imply- 
ing the  contrary ;  as,  "Even  were  I 
disposed  it  would  be  impossible'' ; 

(2)  to  express  a  mere  supposition 
with  indefinite  time;  as,  "Unless  I 
were  ready  I  would  refuse";  (3)  to 
express  a  wish  or  desire;  as,  "I 
wish  I  were  going." 


18.  Use  the  active  voice  instead 
of  the  passive,  when  possible;  as, 
"I  heard  a  song,"  instead  of  "A 
song  was  heard  by  me." 


19.  The  article  should  not  be  in- 
serted in  a  phrase  which  depends 
upon  kind  or  sort;  as,  "This  kind 
of  boy." 

20.  Who  and  whom  should  be 
carefully  distinguished  in  construc- 
tion ;  as,  "Whom  did  you  refer  to  ?" 

21.  Avoid  the  use  of  and  which 
and  but  which  when  a  relative  con- 
struction does  not  precede. 

35 


Grammatical   v  22.  After  look,  sound,  taste,  feel, 
Forms  and       smell,  an  adjective  is  used  to  de- 
Construc-        scribe  the  subject;  as,   "It  sounds 
lions  needing  clear"  (not,  sounds  clearly). 
Caution — 


continued. 


23.  Usually,  the  noun  is  followed 
by  the  same  preposition  that  follows 
its  related  verb;  as,  "confide  in," 
"to  have  confidence  in." 


y  24.  When  but  is  used  to  arrest 
an  implied  inference  from  the  pre- 
ceding and  turn  the  thought  in  op- 
posite direction,  be  sure  that  such 
inference  is  natural,  and  that  the 
added  idea  is  antithetic.  Incor- 
rect :  "Luther's  character  was  emo- 
tional but  exceedingly  courageous." 
(Emotion  and  courage  are  not  an- 
tithetical.) 

25.  A  thought  moving  in  the 
same  direction  needs  often  to  be  in- 
tensified in  succeeding  members,  in 
order  to  secure  progress  and  cli- 
max;  as,  "We  admired  Mary  and 
especially  Jean." 

26.  Use  illative  conjunctions  to 
indicate  inference,  effect  or  conse- 
quence;  use  causal  conjunctions  to 
indicate  reasons  or  explanations. 

36 


27 '.  Subordination  inside  a  clause 
already  subordinate,  should  be  made 
by  the  use  of  a  different  conjunc- 
tion; as,  "//  the  man  will  repent, 
provided  that  (not  if)  he  is  honest, 
he  will  be  engaged." 

28.  The  infinitive  should  be  in  the 
present  when  it  expresses  what  is 
either  future  or  contemporary  at  the 
time  indicated  by  the  principal  verb, 
whether  that  be  in  the  present  or 
the  past  tense ;  as,  "He  intended  to 
ivrite" ;  "He  appears  to  have  stud- 
ied." 

29.  Avoid,  when  possible,  a  "split 
construction" ;  as,  "He  had  a  de- 
termined resentment  toward  and  an 
utter  contempt  for  the  ruling 
power." 

1.  Between  a  word  and  its  modi- 
fier, do  not  put  any  expression  that 
can  usurp  the  modification;  as,  "A 
key  found  by  a  boy  made  of  steel." 

2.  Place  only  immediately  before 
its  principal. 

3.  Place  restrictive  phrases  where 
they  can  work  in  only  one  way ;  as, 
"At  least  John  is  honest,"  or  "John 
is,  at  least,  honest." 


Grammatical 
Forms  and 
Construc- 
tions needing 
Caution — 
continued. 


11. 


Plac- 
ing of 
Modifiers, 


87 


III.  Con-  i.  Do  not  let  intervening  words 

cord.  disturb  agreement  of  verb  and  sub- 

ject. 


2.  The  verb  be,  in  all  its  forms, 
takes  the  same  case  after  it  as  be- 
fore it;  as,  "I  know  it  to  be  him" ; 
"It  is  ir 

3.  Treat  collectives  by  sense 
rather  than  by  grammar;  as,  "The 
committee  were  of  different  opin- 
ions" ;  "The  committee  was  of  one 
mind." 

4.  Singular  nouns,  unless  syn- 
onymous or  so  closely  connected  as 
to  make  up  a  single  idea,  when 
joined  by  and  require  a  plural  verb ; 
as,  "The  evening  and  the  morning 
were  the  first  day";  "The  ebb  and 
flow  of  the  tides  is  now  well  under- 
stood." 


5.  Singular  nouns  joined  by  or 
or  nor  require  a  singular  verb. 

6.  When  the  subjects  joined  by 
or  or  nor  are  of  different  numbers 
either  use,  where  possible,  a  form  of 
the  verb  which  is  the  same  for  either 

38 


number,  or  change  the  construction  Concord — 

of  the  sentence,  or  make  the  verb  continued. 
agree  with  the  nearest  subject;  as, 
"One  or  two  were  there." 

7.  Each,  every,  either,  and  neither 
take  a  singular  verb. 

8.  Make  pronoun  and  antecedent 
agree  in  number  and  kind.  Such 
agreement  is  to  be  determined  by 
the  logical  sense. 

1.  Make  the  antecedent    promi-   jy    Ante- 
nent  enough  to  be  identified  readily.       cedents. 

2.  Make  the  reference  definite 
enough  to  single  out  the  exact  ante- 
cedent intended. 

1.  When  a  number  of  persons,   V.  Refer- 
men  and  women,  are  spoken  of  dis-        ence. 
tributively,  the  pronouns  he  and  his 

are  proper  forms  of  reference — not 
their,  not  his  or  her;  as,  "Each  of 
the  students  has  his  peculiar  traits." 

2.  When  the  indefinite  pronoun 
one  is  used,  there  is  often  ambiguity 
in  referring  to  it  later  by  he,  his,  etc. 
Repeat  the  one;  as,  "One  is  not  sure 
of  one's  case." 


Reference —  3.  In   many   cases   where   refer- 

continued.  ence  is  difficult,  the  antecedent  needs 
to  be  repeated  in  some  form,  in- 
stead of  being  represented  by  a  pro- 
noun ;  as,  "Jefferson,  in  reference  to 
this  statement  of  Franklin's,  said 
that  Franklin's  opinion  was  dis- 
tinctly at  variance  with  his  (Jeffer- 
son's) practice." 


4.  When  the  antecedent  is  a 
clause,  it  must  generally  be  referred 
to  by  more  than  a  mere  pronominal 
word.  A  denning  word  must  be 
added  to  broaden  the  reference ;  as, 
"When  an  American  book  is  re- 
published in  England,  the  fact  (bet- 
ter than  it)  is  heralded/' 


5.  When  possible  arrange  sen- 
tences so  that  a  relative  pronoun  can 
refer  to  the  nearest  word  that  can 
be  used  as  an  antecedent.  This  ap- 
plies with  especial  force  to  the  ante- 
cedent of  the  restrictive  relative. 


6.  When  proximity  is  not  possi- 
ble, give  prominence  to  the  antece- 
dent by  its  position ;  that  is,  put  the 
antecedent  in  a  principal  grammat- 
ical function,  usually  as  subject,  or 

40 


it  may  be,  as  object  of  a  verb  or  a  Reference — 
preposition.     The   antecedent  may  continued. 
not  be  in  the  possessive  case,  nor 
may  it  be  left  to  implication. 


7.  "Never  put  an  it  upon  paper 
without  thinking  well  of  what  you 
are  about.  When  I  see  many  its  in 
a  page  I  always  tremble  for  the 
writer." — Cobbett. 


8.  It  is  not  enough  that  pronouns 
have  their  antecedents  in  the  writ- 
er's mind,  or  in  the  sense  of  the 
previous  clause  ;  they  should  always 
be  referable  to  grammatical  words. 


1.  Co-ordinate  conjunctions  join   VI.  Correla- 
verbs    in    the    same    moods    and        tion. 
tenses. 


2.  The  words  not  only  and  but, 
or  but  also,  when  correlative,  should 
be  followed  by  the  same  part  of 
speech;  as,  "He  gave  me  not  only 
advice  but  also  help." 


3.  The  correlatives  so,  as,  are 
used  with  the  negative  not;  as,  "It 
is  not  so  cold  as  yesterday." 

41 


Correlation  4.  When    making    comparisons, 

— continued,  verbs  or  prepositions  should  be  re- 
peated after  than  or  as,  when  nec- 
essary to  make  the  grammatical  re- 
lation of  the  later  member  clear ;  as, 
"Pleasure  and  excitement  had  more 
attraction  for  him  than  for  his 
friend." 


5.  In  comparing  complex  objects 
take  care  that  the  points  compared 
are  really  comparable.  The  fol- 
lowing is  incorrect:  "No  author 
could  more  faithfully  represent  a 
character  than  this  portrait  of 
Count  Cenci  by  Shelley."  If  we 
should  say  "than  Shelley  has  por- 
trayed the  character  of  Count  Cen- 
ci," the  comparison  would  be  be- 
tween like  objects. 


6.  Study  correct  usage  in  choos- 
ing particles  of  correlation.  The 
following  are  some  of  the  most 
commonly  misused  particles,  with 
their  corrections.  Some  expres- 
sions not  strictly  correlative  are  in- 
cluded : 

Write  different  from,  not  differ- 
ent to. 

Write  hardly  when,  not  hardly 
than. 

42 


Write  seldom  or  never,  not  sel-   Correlation 
dom  or  ever.  — continued. 

Write  such  as,  not  such  which. 

Write    neither   nor,    not   neither 
or. 

Write  the  same  that  (objective), 
not  the  same  as. 

Write  I  do  not  know  that,  not 
I  do  not  know  as. 


J.  Do  not  neglect  to  correlate 
clauses  when  the  reader  may  in  any 
way  be  helped  by  it.  The  particles 
either,  neither,  on  the  one  hand, 
etc.,  serve  to  prepare  for  a  coming 
alternative,  or,  nor,  etc.,  and  help 
the  reader  to  anticipate ;  as,  (< Either 
you  must  take  this  course  or  else 
your  cause  is  endangered."  The 
particles  indeed,  to  be  sure,  etc., 
used,  by  way  of  concession,  serve 
to  prepare  for  a  coming  adversative 
but,  still,  or  yet;  as,  "To  be  sure 
he  agrees,  yet  he  hesitates  to  act." 


i.  Let  a  sentence  contain  the  de-   yil.    Unity, 
velopment  of  only  one  idea. 


2.  Avoid  a  loose  arrangement  of 
relative  clauses. 

43 


Unity —  3.  Do  not  crowd  into  the  same 

continued.        sentence  ideas  that  have  no  close 
connection. 

4.  Do  not  crowd  into  a  sentence 
details  that  belong  elsewhere. 

5.  Avoid  changing  the  subject 
in  a  sentence. 

6.  Test  sentences  for  unity  by 
putting  them  into  periodic  form. 

7.  The  expression  of  a  single 
sentence,  with  due  observance  of 
the  legitimate  dependencies  of 
clause  and  clause,  may  be  taken  as 
the  pattern  of  paragraph  structure ; 
conversely,  the  total  effect  of  a  para- 
graph should  be  reducible  to  a  sin- 
gle sentence. 

8.  To  secure  unity  in  a  para- 
graph, make  the  paragraph  con- 
cern itself  with  one  particular  mat- 
ter, and  with  that  alone. 

9.  Usually,  any  sentence  to  be 
worthy  of  a  place  in  a  paragraph, 
should  contribute  directly  to  ex- 
plain, or  particularize,  or  prove,  or 
apply,  the  one  thought  of  the  topic. 

44 


i.  End  or  begin  with  words  that    VIII.   Em- 
deserve  distinction.  phasis. 


2.  To  add  emphasis  to  a  princi- 
pal element,  invert  its  sentence 
order. 


3.  To  add  emphasis  to  a  modi- 
fier, place  it  after  its  principal. 


4.  To  add  emphasis  to  a  condi- 
tional clause,  place  it  last. 

5.  To   push   expectation   toward 
the  end,  put  preliminaries  first. 

6.  Make    successive    terms    ad- 
vance from  weaker  to  stronger. 


7.  Emphasis  may  be  secured  by 
use  of  the  balanced  sentence. 


8.  The  secret  of  emphasis  or 
force  in  the  structure  of  sentence, 
paragraph,  or  whole  composition,  is 
the  recognition  of  the  relative  im- 
portance of  things,  and  the  securing 
of  position,  bulk,  and  stress,  to  ac- 
cord with  rank  in  importance. 

45 


Emphasis —         9.  Begin,  and  especially  end,  par- 

continued.        agraphs   with  important  thoughts. 

So  arrange  the  sentences  that  what 

is   important   in   thought,   shall   be 

prominent  to  the  eye  and  ear. 


10.  Place  relatively  unimportant 
though  necessary  thoughts  in  the 
interior  of  the  paragraph,  with  little 
bulk   or   distinction   of  expression. 


11.  Words  and  phrases  that  im- 
ply more  than  they  say,  or  con- 
noting expressions,  are  especially 
forcible.  Vernacular  words  con- 
note vigor  and  simplicity ;  for  force 
prefer  specific  words  instead  of  gen- 
eral ;  short  words  instead  of  long ; 
Saxon  derivatives  instead  of  Latin 
or  Greek ;  idioms  instead  of  bookish 
words.  Figures  that  connote  some 
implication,  unexpected  or  enrich- 
ing, are  of  peculiar  force. 


•  12.  Cut  out  all  unnecessary  words 
so  that  the  strong  elements,  the 
vital  words,  may  stand  forth. 

46 


I.  Coherence  depends  first  upon  IX.  Cohe- 
the  development  of  the  logical  habit  rence. 
of  noting  the  relations  of  ideas,  and 
of  estimating  closely  the  kind,  the 
degree,  the  shading  of  such  rela- 
tions ;  secondly,  upon  the  fine  and 
accurate  use  of  the  symbolic  words 
(pronouns,  articles,  prepositions, 
conjunctions)  that  express  such  re- 
lations. 


2.  The  life  and  progress  of  a 
sentence  may  reside  in  its  preposi- 
tions ;  as,  "A  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people,  shall  not  perish  from  the 
earth." 


3.  The  following  lists  of  conjunc- 
tions suggest  kind,  degree,  and 
shading  of  relations : 

(1)  Additive  and  Cumulative.— 
And,  again,  likewise,  furthermore, 
add  to  this,  etc. 

(2)  Adversative. — But,  still,  yet, 
however,  for  all  that,  etc. 

(3)  Illative. — Therefore,  hence, 
thus,  so,  accordingly,  etc. 

(4)  Causal. — For,  because,  ow- 
ing to,  arising  from,  etc. 

47 


Coherence —         (5)   Conditional  and  Defining. — 
continued.        If,  though,  provided,  unless,  when, 
while,  etc. 

(6)   Sequential. — That,    so   that, 
as  much  as,  etc. 


4.  Whenever  a  word  or  a  phrase 
depends  upon  another  word  or 
phrase,  make  the  kind  and  degree 
of  relation  between  them  evident. 


5.  Every  relative  pronoun  should 
be  so  placed  that  its  antecedent 
cannot  be  mistaken. 


6.  Make  clear  the  relation  of 
every  participle  by  expressing  the 
noun  or  pronoun  to  which  it  relates. 


7.  Associate  closely  in  expression 
words  or  clauses  that  are  associ- 
ated closely  in  thought. 

8.  Make  the  similarity  in  rela- 
tion of  ideas  evident  by  uniformity 
in  construction ;  as,  "Then  came  a 
fit  of  despondency,  almost  of  des- 
pair" ;  "I  take  four  writers,  each 
of  whom,  despite  his  individuality, 

48 


is  typical  of  his  own  century:  Sir  Coherence- 
Walter  Raleigh  of  the  sixteenth, —  continued. 
the  age  of  Elizabeth;  Sir  Thomas 
Browne  of  the  seventeenth, — the 
age  of  the  Stuarts ;  Henry  Fielding 
of  the  eighteenth, — the  age  of  the 
Georges ;  Lord  Macaulay  of  the 
nineteenth, — the  age  of  Victoria." 

9.  A  needless  shift  of  subject,  or 
voice,  is,  according  to  the  principle 
of  parallel  construction,  very  dam- 
aging to  cohesion;  as,  "I  started 
up  and  a  scream  was  heard."  What 
is  meant? 

10.  Do  not  separate  adverbs 
from  the  words  they  modify. 

11.  If  possible,  place  the  adverb 
only  immediately  before  the  word 
or  construction  to  which  it  belongs. 

12.  An  adjective  phrase  intro- 
duced by  the  preposition  of,  being 
the  adjunct  of  a  noun,  naturally 
craves  the  place  just  after  its  noun, 
and  in  a  series  of  phrases  takes 
precedence  of  phrases  adverbial  in 
office.  Incorrect :  "The  preserva- 
tion in  a  race  or  nation  by  tradition 
of  historical  characters  is  a  means 
of  promoting  patriotism." 

49 


Coherence —  13.  To  secure  coherence  in  a  par- 
continued.  agraph,  each  sentence  must  have  a 
traceable  relation,  a  felt  reference 
to  the  preceding  sentence;  must 
contribute  its  own  thought  to  the 
purpose  of  the  paragraph  and,  at 
the  same  time,  must  prepare  for 
what  follows.  In  like  manner  each 
paragraph  in  a  whole  composition 
must  secure  coherence. 

14.  Express  scrupulously,  when 
necessary,  the  words  and  phrases 
of  relation  which  define  the  turning 
points  of  thought,  and  make  clear 
and  coherent  the  reference. 

15.  Explicit  reference  is  secured 
by  the  free  use  of  connectives,  con- 
junctional and  demonstrative;  as, 
"What  America  is  to  England,  that 
the  Western  States  are  to  the  At- 
lantic States." 

16.  Implicit  reference,  that  is, 
an  implied  connection  without  ex- 
pressed symbols  of  relation,  is 
sometimes  secured  by  means  of  the 
natural  closeness  of  the  thought  and 
the  skillful  management  of  the 
structure;  as,  "From  labor  cometh 
strength ;  (and)  from  strength,  vic- 
tory." 

50 


X. 
FORM. 

i.     General. 

i.  Have  good  material:  good  quality  of  pa- 
per, black  ink,  and  good  pen,  neither  "stub"  nor 
too  sharp. 

2.  All  writing  should  be  in  clear,  legible  hand 
with  no  flourishes.    Avoid  these  few  chief  faults : 

(i)  Extending  loop-letters  until  they  tangle 
with  the  loops  of  the  line  above  or  the  line  be- 
low. 

(2)  Making  the  letters  t  and  d  with  loops. 

(3)  Leaving  too  little  space  between  words. 

(4)  Leaving  space  between  letters  of  the 
same  word. 

(5)  Failing  to  leave  a  larger  space  than  usual 
after  a  semicolon,    and  between  sentences. 

(6)  Neglecting  to  dot  i's  and  cross  fs  prop- 
erly. 

(7)  Neglecting  to  close  o's,  a's  and  d's  and 
to  discriminate  between  u  and  n. 


3.  Show  care  and  accuracy  in   spelling  and 
punctuation. 


4.  Be  exact  in  making  the  different  points 
of  punctuation. 

51 


5.  Write  on  but  one  side  of  the  paper. 


6.  Number  all  pages  in  the  upper  right-hand 
corner. 


7.  All  paragraphs  should  be  indented  about 
one  inch  from  the  margin. 


8.  After  each  sentence  a  space  of  about  an 
inch  should  be  left  before  the  beginning  of  the 
next  sentence. 


9.  When  special  attention  is  invited  to  any 
word  or  expression  inclose  it  in  single  quote- 
marks  ;  as,  "  'Doth'  is  an  archaism." 


10.  Foreign  words,  and,  rarely,  words  of 
special  emphasis,  are  italicised.  Underscore  for 
italics. 


11.  Make  erasures  by  drawing  a  single  hori- 
zontal line  through  the  expression,  or,  what  is 
better,  by  removing  with  a  knife  or  eraser. 


12.  Insertions,  when  unavoidable,  should  be 
made  above  the  line,  with  a  caret  (a)  to  in- 
dicate the  place. 

52 


13.  Write  name,  class,  division,  subject, 
pages  (of  text),  and  date,  on  upper  right-hand 
corner  of  exercises. 


14.  Write  subject,  name,  class,  division,  and 
date,  on  outside  cover  of  essays. 


2.     Outlines. 

1.  Have  points  grouped  under  the  main 
heads :  Introduction,  Discussion  and  Conclusion; 
if  the  form  of  discourse  be  argumentation,  in- 
clude Proposition  under  the  main  heads. 


2.  Carefully  arrange  points  according  to  their 
rank.  Place  points  of  equal  importance  after 
like  symbols,  the  symbols  being  set  in  vertical 
rows.  Indent  all  sub-points  about  one  inch  from 
their  principals.  Do  not  put  symbols  of  different 
kinds  on  the  same  vertical. 

Note :  In  an  ordinary  essay  the  most  common 
and  lucid  notation,  perhaps,  is  to  put  the  main 
divisions  in  capital  letters  (A,  B,  C)  ;  the  sub- 
divisions in  arabic  numerals  (1,  2,  3)  ;  and  the 
sub-subdivisions  in  small  letters  (a,  b.  c). 


3.  Select  points  with  regard  to  distinction, 
sequence,  and  climax.  That  is,  let  each  point, 
main  and  subordinate,  have  a  significance  of  its 
own ;  as  far  as  possible,  let  each  point,  and  each 
group  of  points,  grow  naturally  out  of  what  pre- 
cedes, and  lead  to  what  follows ;  let  the  several 
groups  gather  momentum  as  they  advance,  and 
reach  a  culmination  of  interest. 

4.  State  all  thoughts  in  plain  language  and 
in  complete  form.  As  a  rule  state  all  points  of 
the  outline  in  sentential  form. 


5.  Cite  authorities  and  explicit  references  at 
foot  of  pages. 

6.  Give  a  bibliography  of  sources  at  the  close. 

7.  Punctuate  all  expressions  in  the  outline. 

3.     Theses  and  Senior  Parts. 

1.  Type-written  copies  are  preferred.  An 
outline  or  table  of  contents  is  desirable.  Ex- 
plicit references  and  authorities  should  be  given 
in  foot  notes.  A  bibliography  of  sources  should 
be  prefixed  or  given  at  close.  All  the  work  should 
be  done  with  the  utmost  accuracy  of  arrange- 
ment and  form. 

54 


4.     Note-Books. 

i.  Have  good  material:  good  quality  of  pa- 
per, black  ink,  and  good  pen,  or  pointed  pencil 
and  good  eraser. 

2.  Have  a  regular  system  of  grouping,  tabu- 
lating, and  indexing  points. 

3.  A  system  of  recognizable  abbreviations  is 
desirable. 

4.  Take  legible  notes  that  can  be  read  several 
weeks  after  dictation. 

5.  Leave  margin  or  space  for  conspicuous 
placing  of  headings. 

6.  Group  notes  under  main  heads,  clearly  dis- 
criminating between  logical  definitions  and  mere 
illustrations. 


7.  Whenever  possible,  make  an  orderly  tabu- 
lation of  details  under  main  heads. 


8.  Aim  to  get  the  substance  of  general  state- 
ments in  your  own  words,  rather  than  to  note  a 
part  of  each  sentence. 

9.  Try  to  get  the  exact  words  of  significant 
phrases  or  quotations. 

55 


io.  Keep  a  brief  table  of  contents  referring 
to  pages  of  your  note-book. 


ii.  All  notes  should  be  written  in  good  Eng- 
lish. 


12.  (Authority  for  this  valuable  direction: 
Professor  Schafer,  of  the  University  of  Oregon.) 

Any  report  should  include  careful  citation  of 
authorities  and  careful  description  of  notes 
taken. 


Notes : 

(i)  Write  at  the  top  of  the  group  of  notes 
the  name  of  the  author  read,  title  of  the  work, 
volume  and  pages  containing  the  matter  used  in 
the  report;  as,  "Fiske,  The  Discovery  of  Amer- 
ica, Vol.  II.  pp.  141 — 143." 

(2)  Every  note  should  be  described  so  that 
on  referring  to  it  at  any  time  the  writer  may 
know  its  exact  character  and  its  relation  to  the 
source  whence  it  comes.  First,  if  a  quotation, 
that  fact  should  always  be  indicated  by  quote- 
marks  ;  secondly,  if  a  paraphrase,  some  symbol 
(for  instance,  =)  should  be  used  to  show  it; 
thirdly,  if  merely  the  thought  of  the  author  has 
been  taken,  while  the  language  is  absolutely  orig- 
inal, the  absence  of  quote-marks  and  paraphrase- 
symbols  will  indicate  as  unnecessary  any  formal 
description. 

56 


(3)  A  stray  note  lacking  these  credentials  of 
character,  'source'  and  'description/  is  without 
value  for  any  scholarly  purpose. 


XL 

LETTER  WRITING. 

i.     General  Directions. 

i.  The  heading  should  contain  the  writer's 
address  in  full  and  the  date.     Thus, 

587  Morrison  St., 
Portland,   Oregon, 
Dec.  9,  1903. 

Hobart   College, 

Geneva,  N.  Y., 
Oct.  3,  1903. 


2.  The  salutation  should  indicate  the  relation 
between  the  writer  and  the  recipient.    Thus, 

Dear  Madam,  Dear  Sir,  My  dear  Madam, 
My  dear  Sir,  Dear  Sirs,  Gentlemen,  are  appro- 
priate salutations  in  business  letters. 

57 


Notes : 

(i)  'Gentlemen'  is  the  proper  salutation  in 
addressing  a  firm  or  company. 

(2)  'My  dear  Sir'  is  more  formal  than  'Dear 
Sir.' 

(3)  'Madam'  may  refer  to  a  single  or  a  mar- 
ried lady. 

(4)  'Dear  Mr.  Brown/  'My  dear  Mrs.  Deane,' 
are  used  in  friendly  letters,  or  in  business  letters 
addressed  to  a  person  whom  one  knows  well. 

(5)  'Dear  James,'  'Dear  Uncle,'  'My  dear 
George/  'Dear  Cousin  Grace,'  'My  dear  friend' 
(or  Friend),  are  forms  for  familiar  letters. 

(6)  The  salutation  should  be  followed  by  a 
colon,  or  by  a  colon  and  a  dash. 


3.  The  body  of  the  letter  should  be  legibly 
and  clearly  written,  in  paragraphs,  each  of  which 
should  cover  a  single  point. 


4.  The  letter  should  close  with  a  courteous 
and  appropriate  phrase.  Thus,  in  business  let- 
ters: 

Yours  truly,  Yours  sincerely,  Very  truly 
yours,  Respectfully  yours ;  in  familiar  or  friendly 
letters : 

Faithfully  yours,  Your  loving  son,  Yours 
cordially,  Yours,  with  love. 

58 


Notes : 

(i)  'Yours  truly'  is  more  formal  than  'Yours 
sincerely/ 

(2)  'Respectfully  yours'  should  never  be 
used  unless  special  respect  is  intended.  It  is 
proper  in  writing  to  a  high  official  or  to  a  person 
much  older  than  one's  self. 


5.  Except  in  very  familiar  letters  the  writer 
should  sign  his  name  in  the  form  he  habitually 
uses  in  signing  a  document. 

Notes : 

(1)  If  the  writer  is  a  lady  she  should  in- 
dicate whether  she  is  to  be  addressed  as  Miss 
or  Mrs.  This  may  be  done  by  prefixing  the 
title  (in  parenthesis)  to  the  signature:  '(Miss) 
Edith  Mount.'  Or  the  proper  form  may  be  writ- 
ten below  the  signature  and  at  the  left  of  the 
page.  A  lady  should  not  be  addressed  by  her 
husband's  title.  Incorrect :  'Mrs.  Senator  Wise', 
'Mrs.  Judge  Ross.' 

(2)  Be  sure  that  your  final  sentence  when  it 
is  united  with  the  subscription  is  grammatical. 
The  following  is  ungrammatical : 

"Hoping  to  see  you  soon,  believe  me, 

Yours  sincerely." 

You  will  be  right  as  to  grammar  if  you  sub- 
stitute T  am,'  for  'believe  me.' 

59 


6.  The  name  and  address  of  the  person  for 
whom  a  letter  is  intended  are  usually  placed 
either  above  the  salutation  or  below  the  signa- 
ture and  at  the  left  of  the  page.  In  familiar 
letters  the  latter  arrangement  is  usual ;  in  busi- 
ness letters,  the  former. 


2.     Letter   Forms. 

i.  Friendly  Letter. 

Portland,    Oregon, 
426  Jefferson  Street, 

My  dear  Martha:  ay  l  '  I9°3' 

Please  come  next  Saturday  and  spend 
a  week  with  me.      Yours  as  evefj 

Mary  Harlowe  Brown. 
Miss  Martha  Drew, 
Salem,  Oregon. 

2.  Business  Letter. 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 
374  Market  Street, 

Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  .       Sept  23'  ^ 
4  Park  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Sirs : — 

Please  send  by  mail  one  copy  of 
Lowell's  Complete  Poems.     Enclosed  find  postal 
order  for  the  price  as  catalogued. 
Very  truly, 

George  H.  Marsh. 

60 


3.  Superscription. 

In  superscription  or  direction,  which  is 
written  on  the  envelope,  never  deviate  from  the 
approved  manner  of  arrangement.     Thus, 

Mr.  John  Applegate 
43  State  Street 
Salem 

Oregon. 

Note:  Commas  are  not  needed  at  the  ends 
of  lines  in  the  superscription.  An  abbreviation, 
however,  should  of  course  be  followed  by  a  pe- 
riod; as,  St.  for  Street.  Place  stamp  always  in 
upper  right  hand  corner. 


4.  Invitations  (Informal  and  Formal). 

1.  Invitations  and  replies  are  either  formal 
or  informal.  The  reply  should  accord  in  style 
with  the  invitation. 


2.  An  informal  invitation  or  reply  is  written 
like  any  other  familiar  letter.  Sometimes  the 
heading  is  omitted  altogether  and  the  date  and 
place  put  at  the  close. 

3.  Formal  notes  should  be  written  on  unruled 
paper  having  no  printed  heading.    They  should 

61 


be  written  in  third  person  throughout  with  no 
abbreviations.  The  date  of  entertainment,  hour, 
place,  function,  should  be  written  in  full.  The  ad- 
dress and  date  (written  out)  should  be  placed  at 
the  lower  left  hand  of  the  page. 

4.  A  reply,  whether  formal  or  informal, 
should  always  repeat  the  date  and  hour  men- 
tioned in  the  invitation,  to  prevent  mistake. 


5.  Note  of  Invitation. 

Mrs.  John  Bates  Wesley  requests  the 
pleasure  of  Mr.  Cob  Web's  company  Friday  even- 
ing, December  the  tenth,  from  eight  to  eleven. 

23  Carleton  Street. 
December  fifth. 


6.  Note  of  Acceptance. 

Mr.  Cob  Web  accepts  with  pleasure  Mrs. 
John  Bates  Wesley's  kind  invitation  for  Friday 
evening,  December  the  tenth,  from  eight  to 
eleven. 

14  Bond  Street, 
December  fifth. 

62 


7-  Other  correct  forms: 


Mrs.  Henry  Clay  Barr 

Luncheon 

Tuesday,  May  the  tenth,  from  two  until 

four  o'clock 

420  Bond  Street 


Miss  Dorothy  Wren 

At  Home 

Saturday  afternoon,  June  the  fourth 

356  Mill  Street 

Garden  Party. 


68 


8.  Form    for   an    introduction    that    may    be 
written  on  the  back  of  a  visiting  card : 

Introducing 

Miss  Ruth  Graham  Mills 
of  Portland,  Oregon 


to 


Mrs.  George  Marshall 
84  Beacon  Street,  Boston 


XII. 

COPY  FOR  THE  PRINTER. 

1.     Form. 

1.  Use  paper  from  eight  to  ten  inches  long 
and  from  five  to  six  inches  wide,  and  write  across 
the  long  side. 

2.  Leave  a  margin  of  half  an  inch  at  both 
top  and  bottom  of  each  page.  Side  margins  are 
often  useful  to  the  editor.  If  you  do  not  write 
your  own  headlines  leave  space  for  them  at  the 
top  of  the  first  sheet. 

3.  Put  your  name  on  everything  you  write 
at  the  top  of  the  first  sheet. 

64 


4-  Never  write  on  both  sides  of  the  paper. 

5.  Write  with  a  pen  when  possible,  and  use 
good  black  ink.  Never  use  a  pencil  with  hard 
lead.  A  pencil  that  makes  a  dim  mark,  pale  ink, 
and  a  very  fine  pen  are  poor  tools.  Throw  them 
away. 

6.  Study  the  columns  of  the  paper  for  which 
you  write.  Note  the  system  by  which  the  styles 
of  type  are  used;  the  position  of  dates;  the  way 
letters  to  the  editor  are  addressed;  the  use  of 
"headlines, "  "sub-heads,"  and  "cross  lines";  the 
style  of  capitalization  and  punctuation;  the  use 
of  abbreviations  in  writing  words:  the  method 
of  writing  numbers,  that  is,  what  numbers  are 
written  in  figures  and  what  in  letters;  and  the 
forms  used  for  tables,  summaries,  market  reports, 
shipping  news  and  other  matter. 


7.  Study  several  of  the  great  newspapers  of 
the  country,  The  Nezv  York  Evening  Post,  The 
New  York  Times,  the  Philadelphia  Ledger,  etc., 
and  our  own  Oregonian  for  information  as  to 
subject  matter,  method  of  statement,  and  form 
used  for  the  different  pages. 


8.  Number  each  page  at  the  top  either  in  the 
middle  or  at  the  right-hand  corner.  Draw  a  quar- 
ter-circle or  two  straight  lines  under  the  number. 
If  new  pages  are  inserted  in  the  middle  of  an 

65 


article,  say  after  page  9,  number  them  "9a,  9b," 
etc.  If  pages  are  taken  out,  say  from  8  to  12, 
inclusive,  number  the  seventh  page  "7 — 12"  or  the 
thirteenth  page  "8 — 13."  It  is  a  common  practice 
to  choose  arbitrarily  some  letter  and  put  it  after 
every  page-number  in  any  one  article,  as  "ix, 
2x,"  etc.  Thus,  confusion  will  be  avoided  if  the 
pages  should  happen  to  get  mixed  with  those  of 
another  article  numbered  "iz,  22,"  etc. 

9.  Write  legibly,  so  that  editor,  compositor 
and  proof-reader  will  have  no  trouble,  and  in 
order  to  get  your  article  printed  as  you  intended 
it.  Be  especially  careful  with  foreign  and  other 
unusual  words.  The  capitals  I  and  J  are  often 
confounded ;  so  are  the  small  letters  u,  n,  r,  v,  w, 
o,  a. 

10.  Be  particular  to  write  the  names  of  per- 
sons and  places  plainly,  and,  above  all,  spell  them 
correctly.  It  is  important  to  write  the  names  of 
individuals  and  firms  as  they  write  them.  Avoid 
dividing  names  at  the  end  of  lines. 

11.  Begin  every  sentence  with  a  capital  letter. 
If  it  is  not  clear  that  the  letter  as  written  is  a 
capital  draw  three  lines  under  it.  Encircle  every 
period  that  ends  a  sentence.  Some  writers  pre- 
fer to  use  the  mark  (X)  for  a  period.  Leave  a 
space  of  about  an  inch  between  sentences  in  the 
same  paragraph.  Clearly  distinguish  colons  from 
semicolons  and  commas  from  periods. 

66 


12.  Avoid  division  of  words  at  end  of  lines. 
Never  divide  a  word  at  the  end  of  a  page. 

13.  Indent  paragraphs  an  inch  from  the  mar- 
gin. Put  the  paragraph  mark  (!f)  before  any 
word  not  so  indented  if  it  introduces  a  paragraph. 
In  editing  your  own  or  another's  copy  you  can 
make  a  paragraph  where  you  choose  by  insert- 
ing the  mark. 

14.  If  you  have  made  a  break  in  your  dis- 
course, and  afterward  decide  not  to  have  a  para- 
graph, connect  the  last  word  before  the  break, 
and  the  first  word  after  the  break,  by  a  curved 
line. 

15.  Avoid  ending  a  paragraph  with  the  first 
or  second  line  on  a  page.  Better  compress  the 
writing  at  the  bottom  of  one  page  than  carry 
a  few  words  over  to  the  next. 

16.  Avoid  having  the  last  word  on  a  page 
end  a  sentence  but  not  a  paragraph.  Better  carry 
it  over  to  the  next  page. 

2.     Abbreviations. 

17.  To  save  time  "and"  may  be  written  &  with 
a  semicircle  after  and  half  enclosing  it.  In  gen- 
eral, curves  or  full  circles  around  abbreviations 
indicate  that  they  are  to  be  spelled  out;  e.  g., 
Gen.  encircled  will  be  printed  General;  9,  nine. 

67 


) 


Vice  versa,  a  circle  around  a  word  means  that  it 
is  to  be  abbreviated;  Oregon  encircled  will  be 
printed  Or.;  nine,  p.  Abbreviating  in  copy  can  of 
course  be  carried  too  far,  but  it  is  safe  to  abbre- 
viate most  titles,  the  names  of  days  and  months, 
and  to  use  contractions  easily  understood,  like 
"Dem.,"  "Rep.,"  with  curves  above  and  below 
the  last  letter,  or  circles  around  the  abbreviation. 
However,  unless  under  pressure  of  time,  it  is 
always  wise  to  hand  in  copy  exactly  as  it  is  to  be 
printed. 

1 8.  Never  begin  a  sentence  with  figures. 
Write  "The  sum  of  $25,000,"  etc. 

19.  Never  write  "this  p.  m."  Say  afternoon 
or  evening. 

20.  Spell  out  numbers  under  1 1 ;  in  editorial 
under  101. 

21.  Do  not  abbreviate  given  names. 

22.  Do  not  use  "Reverend"  or  "Honorable" 
or  the  abbreviations  "Rev."  or  "Hon."  without 
the  man's  initials  or  given  name  or  the  insertion 
of  "Mr."  Write  "Rev.  Mr.  Brown"  or  "Reverend 
John  Brown."  Many  newspapers  prefer  the  ar- 
ticle before  the  title :  "The  Rev.  D.  L.  Ray,"  "The 
Hon.  James  Holmes."  Never  write  "Rev.  Brown" 
or  "Hon.  Holmes."  "Mr.,"  "Mrs."  and  "Dr." 
are  used  alone  with  the  surname,  though  it  is 

68 


better  form  to  write  out  "Doctor"  whenever  the 
initials  are  omitted;  as,  "Doctor  Smith,"  "Dr. 
John  Smith." 

23.  Use  figures  for  numbers  of  houses,  words 
for  streets.     "32  East  Twelfth  Street." 

24.  In  dates,  abbreviate  names  of  month,  and 
give  the  day  and  year  in  figures.    "Jan.  20,  1903." 

25.  Per  cents  should  be  set  in  figures,  and 
also  sums  of  money. 

26.  In     abbreviating     scriptural     references, 
write  "I  Chron.  v:2-6";  "Matt,  xxvii  13-10." 

27.  Some  abbreviations  for  print: 


Ala. 

la. 

Nev. 

R.  I. 

Alaska 

I.  T. 

N.  C. 

S.  C. 

Ariz. 

Kan. 

N.  D. 

S.  D. 

Ark. 

Ky. 

N.  H. 

Tenn. 

Cal. 

La. 

N.  J. 

T.  H. 

Colo. 

Md. 

N.  M. 

Tex. 

Conn. 

Me. 

N.  Y. 

Utah 

Del. 

Mass. 

Okla. 

Va. 

Fla. 

Mich. 

O. 

Vt. 

Ga. 

Minn. 

Or. 

Wash. 

Idaho 

Mo. 

Pa. 

W.  Va. 

111. 

Mont. 

P.  I. 

Wis. 

Ind. 

Neb. 

P.  R. 

Wyo. 

Spell  out  when  only  the  county  is  given;  as, 
"Lane  County,  Oregon." 


"Oregon"  is  a  short  and  beautiful  word.  Why 
abbreviate  it  ever? 

3.     Miscellaneous. 

28.  In  canceling  draw  a  horizontal  line 
through  the  words  to  be  omitted.  Be  careful  to 
show  clearly  where  the  cancellation  begins  and 
ends.  If  the  cancellation  comes  in  the  middle  of 
a  paragraph,  connect  the  last  word  before  and  the 
first  word  after  with  a  curved  line.  If  you  regret 
a  cancellation  before  the  sheet  leaves  your  hands 
and  have  not  time  to  rewrite  the  passage  put  on 
the  margin  the  word  stet  (Latin  for  "let  it 
stand").  If  only  a  few  words  have  been  can- 
celed, in  addition  to  the  marginal  stet  make  a 
dotted  line  under  the  cancelled  words. 

29.  One  line  under  words  means  that  they 
are  to  be  printed  in  italics;  two  lines,  small 
caps;  three  lines,  FULL  CAPS. 

30.  If  you  desire  to  add  more  than  a  few 
words  to  copy,  it  is  better  to  cut  the  sheet  and 
paste  in  the  new  lines  than  to  interline  or  write 
the  additions  on  the  margin.  When  a  leaf  has 
been  lengthened  by  pasting,  fold  the  lower  edge 
forward  upon  the  writing;  if  it  is  folded  back- 
ward it  may  escape  notice. 

31.  When  writing  in  dialect,  or  quoting  a  sen- 
tence with  misspelled  words  which  you  want 
printed  as  written,  write  "Follow  copy"  on  the 
margin. 

70 


32.  A  proof  of  any  cut  to  be  used  in  illus- 
tration should  be  pasted  in  the  proper  place  in 
copy.  If  the  proof  does  not  accompany  copy, 
leave  a  space  in  copy  and  write  in  it  "Here  cut," 
with  the  title  of  the  illustration.  If  the  cut  has 
not  been  made  send  the  drawing  on  a  separate 
sheet  and  indicate  in  copy  where  it  is  to  go, 
Drawings  or  unmounted  prints  should  always 
be  sent  flat.  Never  fold  them.  It  is  wise  to  send 
them  between  pieces  of  cardboard. 

33.  Keep  different  articles  separate;  that  is, 
page  and  fold  them  separately.  Do  not  write 
consecutively  paragraphs  destined  for  different 
departments  of  the  paper. 

34.  Below  the  end  of  every  article  write  the 
word  "Rule."  If  the  last  sheet  handed  in  does 
not  end  the  article,  write  at  the  foot,  "More  to 
come." 

35.  Date  everything  sent  by  mail,  messenger 
or  telegraph.  When  a  date  heads  the  article  it- 
self, use  tenses,  "to-day,"  "yesterday,"  etc.,  in 
reference  to  that  date.  When  the  article  has  not 
its  own  date,  use  all  time-expressions  in  reference 
to  the  date  on  which  the  matter  is  to  be  printed. 

36.  Newspaper  custom  varies  as  to  the  use 
and  form  of  date-lines.  If  you  can  not  find  out 
the  practice  of  the  paper  for  which  you  are  writ- 
ing it  will  be  safe  to  follow  this  system :  Use 
a  date-line  for  mattter  from  any  other  place  than 

71 


that  in  which  the  paper  is  printed,  even  if  it  be 
only  a  suburb,  provided  the  matter  is  of  more 
than  local  interest;  insert  the  name  of  the  state 
if  it  be  other  than  the  state  in  which  the  paper  is 
printed. 

37.  Everything  in  the  nature  of  news  should 
be  sent  in  at  the  earliest  moment  possible.  No- 
where else  is  time  so  precious  as  in  the  newspaper 
office. 

38.  Never  act  on  the  principle  that  as  some 
one  else  is  to  edit  your  article  you  need  not  take 
the  trouble  to  be  absolutely  accurate.  After  the 
matter  appears  in  the  newspaper,  read  it  over 
to  see  what  changes  have  been  made,  so  that  you 
can  avoid  repeating  any  errors. 

39.  Address  articles  intended  for  publication 
to  the  "Managing  Editor."  If  the  matter  is  in- 
tended for  use  on  any  special  day,  or  in  any  spe- 
cial department,  always  make  a  note  of  it  on  the 
envelope. 

40.  The  lines  in  most  newspapers  average  be- 
tween seven  and  eight  words.  The  news  columns 
of  most  newspapers  are  set  in  nonpareil,  and  there 
are  twelve  nonpareil  lines  to  the  inch.  The  num- 
ber of  words  in  a  news  column  ranges  from  1600 
to  2400.  Editorial  matter,  being  set  in  larger 
type  and  leaded,  will  range  between  1000  and 
1500  words  to  the  column. 

72 


41.  All  correspondents  should  sign  their  full 
names  to  despatches,  items  and  articles  of  what- 
soever kind,  not  their  initials  or  surnames. 

42.  Never  roll  manuscript.  Send  folded  or 
flat. 

4.     Phraseology. 

43.  The  best  foundation  for  success  in  writing 
is  mastery  of  standard  forms  of  expression,  large 
vocabulary,  mastery  of  subject,  and  the  ability 
to  write  easily  and  naturally,  as  one  would  talk. 
To  write  and  re-write  simple  narrations  is  ex- 
cellent practice. 

44.  Simplicity,  clearness,  and  brevity  are  es- 
sentials. Florid  writing,  peculiarities  and  eccen- 
tricities of  expression  are,  excepting  on  rare 
occasions,  wearisome.  Condense  whenever  pos- 
sible. When  one  idea  has  been  definitely  and 
tersely  expressed  go  on  to  the  next.  Make  every 
word  count.  "A  good  writer  is  known  by  what 
he  omits." 

45.  As  a  rule,  Anglo-Saxon  words  are  more 
simple  and  direct  than  words  of  classic  origin. 
"Trustworthy  men  will  begin  work  on  the  sta- 
tion" is  better  than  "Reliable  men  intend  to  com- 
mence operations  for  the  erection  of  a  depot." 

46.  The  careless  use  of  personal  pronouns 
results  in  vagueness.  Never  write  a  personal 
pronoun  without  careful  decision  as  to  its  ante- 
cedent.    Better  repeat  the  name  than  use  a  pro- 

73 


noun  without  clear  reference.  The  use  of  direct 
quotation  rather  than  indirect  often  settles  the 
difficulty.  "He  said  to  his  brother  that  he  thought 
he  ought  to  go."  Better  to  write  "He  said  to  his 
brother,  'You  ought  to  go.'  " 

47.  Introductions,  when  necessary,  should  be 
brief.  Make  the  first  sentence  give  the  gist  of 
your  story.  "Ex-Governor  Black  died  in  Lon- 
don today  of  pneumonia,  after  an  illness  of  four 
days."    Then  go  on  with  the  details. 

48.  Suggestions  for  gaining  brevity: 

( 1 )  Depend  more  on  the  noun  and  verb  than 
on  qualifiers ;  that  is,  cut  out  or  cut  down  ad- 
jective and  adverbial  words,  phrases,  and  clauses 
whenever  possible.  "He  was  a  man"  is  more 
vigorous  than  "He  was  a  noble,  honorable,  con- 
scientious man."  The  wordy  writer  expands 
"Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty"  into 
"Eternal  vigilance,  a  vigilance  that  is  always  on 
the  alert,  is  the  universal  and  inevitable  price 
of  liberty,  whether  of  conscience,  thought,  or 
action." 

(2)  Use  concrete  terms  instead  of  abstract; 
particular  instead  of  general;  connoting  expres- 
sions instead  of  denoting,  that  is,  expressions  that 
suggest  more  than  they  say  by  alluding  to  fa- 
miliar facts  of  experience  or  history.  "He  has 
the  faith  of  Columbus"  may  mean  more  than 
a  sentence  containing  twice  as  many  words  :    "He 

74 


holds  on  in  spite  of  the  doubts  of  those  around 
him." 


(3)  Make  sentences  short,  compact,  and  rich. 
A  good  test  of  the  usefulneess  of  words  in  a 
sentence  is  to  put  the  two  most  important 
thoughts  at  the  beginning  and  the  end,  and  all 
other  parts  as  near  to  their  governing  words  as 
possible.  This  process  will  loosen  useless  words 
so  that  they  will  fall  out  of  the  way  and  thus 
strengthen  the  sentence.  An  example  will  illus- 
trate :  "Always  put  words  that  are  significant  at 
the  close  of  sentences."  This  expression  is  weak 
because  the  two  most  important  thoughts  which 
have  to  do  with  position  and  significance  are  in 
subordinate  places.  Throw  them  into  the  best 
places  in  a  sentence,  the  beginning,  and  the  end. 
"Significant  words  belong  at  the  end/'  or  "End 
with  words  that  deserve  distinction. " 


49.  For  correct  forms  study  a  few  issues  of 
the  best  magazines,  such  as,  The  Atlantic 
Monthly,  The  Century,  Harper's,  The  Outlook  or 
Scribners. 


50.  What  the  compositor  desires  in  every 
manuscript  is  distinctness  of  phrase,  and  a  sys- 
tematic use  of  points  and  capitals.  When  possi- 
ble, manuscript  should  be  type-written  before  it 
is  sent  to  the  printer. 


XIII. 
STYLE. 

i.  Vocabulary. 

i.  Endeavor  to  enlarge  your  vocabulary  to 
at  least  three  thousand  words,  so  as  to  have 
some  richness  of  diction. 


2.  Good  Usage. 

i.  Get  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  good 
usage  as  codified  in  standard  dictionaries,  gram- 
mars, and  rhetorics,  and  as  exemplified  by  reput- 
able writers  and  speakers,  so  as  to  be  able  to  rec- 
ognize and  to  write  good  prose. 

2.  Good  prose  depends  upon  choice,  arrange- 
ment and  connection  of  words. 

3.  Words  are  well  chosen  when  they  are  au- 
thorized by  present,  national  and  reputable  use. 

4.  A  word  very  old  or  comparatively  new, 
or  a  word  derived  from  any  source,  if  generally 
understood  in  our  own  time,  is  in  present  use. 

5.  A  word  understood,  and  understood  in  the 
same  sense,  in  every  part  of  the  same  country, 
and  among  all  classes  of  equal  intelligence,  is  in 
national  use. 

76 


6.  A  word  which  is  used  by  speakers  and 
writers  of  established  reputation  is  in  reputable 
use. 

Note :  Violations  of  the  rules  for  good  usage 
in  the  choice  of  words,  are  called  barbarisms  and 
improprieties. 

(i)  A  barbarism  is  a  word  unauthorized  by 
either  present,  reputable,  or  national  usage.  It 
may  be  an  obsolete  word,  a  word  too  new  to  have 
a  recognized  place,  a  foreign  word,  a  slang  word, 
or  a  misspelled  word. 

(2)  An  impropriety  is  an  authorized  word 
used  in  an  improper  place;  as,  "The  gas  was 
sightless/'     (Used  for  invisible.) 


7.  Words  are  well  arranged  and  well  con- 
nected when  they  follow  the  laws  of  grammatical 
and  rhetorical  usage. 

Note:  Violations  of  grammatical  laws  are 
called  solecisms. 

( 1 )   A  solecism  is  a  faulty  construction. 

Note:  Violations  of  rhetorical  laws  may  be 
called  "irregularities. " 

(1)  An  "irregularity"  is  a  departure  from 
the  natural  order  of  English  words,  not  justifiable 
by  the  need  of  emphasis,  flexibility,  adjustment, 
or  some  other  definite  result. 

77 


8.  Professor  A.  S.  Hill  classifies  three  of 
these  errors  as  follows :  There  are  three  offenses 
against  the  usage  of  the  English  language : 

(i)  Barbarisms,  words  not  English. 

(2)  Solecisms,  constructions  not  English. 

(3)  Improprieties,  words  or  phrases  used  in 
a  sense  not  English. 

To  these  may  be  added  a  fourth  offense : 

(4)  Irregularities,  words  or  phrases  used  in 
an  arrangement  not  English. 

9.  The  writer  who  possesses  good  English 
style  chooses  words  both  for  what  tney  say  (de- 
note) and  for  what  they  imply  or  involve  (con- 
note), that  is,  both  for  literal  and  figurative  ex- 
pression. He  arranges  and  connects  words  into 
phrases,  sentences,  and  paragraphs,  so  as  to  make 
his  language  convey  his  thought,  above  all,  with 
clearness;  and  then  also,  with  force  and  beauty. 

Notes : 

(1)  Clearness  in  style  demands  words  that 
fit  the  thought,  and  that  can  be  understood  by 
those  to  whom  they  are  addressed. 

(2)  Force  in  style  grows  out  of  strength  of 
character,  conviction,  and  earnestness,  coupled 
with  something  to  say. 

(3)  Beauty  in  style  depends  upon  familiarity 
with  the  beautiful  in  literature  and  in  the  world 
around  us. 

78 


XIV. 


RECOMMENDATIONS. 


It  is  recommended  that  each  student  set  apart 
thirty  minutes  a  day  for  the  careful  reading  of 
classic  English  literature;  that  he  own  and  use 
throughout  his  course,  a  dictionary,  a  book  of 
synonyms,  a  grammar,  and  a  rhetoric.  Camp- 
bell's ''Handbook  of  Synonyms  and  Prepositions" 
will  be  found  very  useful.  Among  standard 
grammars  those  of  Professors  West,  and  Whit- 
ney, and  among  standard  rhetorics  those  of  Pro- 
fessors Genung,  Carpenter,  Wendell,  Newcomer, 
and  A.  S.  Hill  are  valuable,  as  well  as  all  other 
texts  mentioned  in  the  preface.  Finally,  anything 
like  mastery  in  English  composition  can  be 
achieved  only  through  constant  writing  and  test- 
ing of  one's  own  powers  by  the  standards  of  the 
masters  in  English  prose. 

Literature  is  an  outgrowth  of  national  prog- 
ress. Activity,  accomplishment,  the  experiences 
of  life,  seek  for  expression  in  poem,  history,  phil- 
osophy and  story.  Knowledge  of  human  nature, 
meditation  upon  the  significance  of  events,  and 
every  means  that  makes  for  accuracy  and  fitness 
in  the  use  of  language,  contribute  toward  the  pro- 
duction of  literature. 

This  western  slope  of  our  beloved  country  has 
been  the  scene  of  many  a  brave  deed.     A  race  is 

79 


tending  hither  "Skilled  by  freedom  and  by  great 
events."  This  region  will  develop  a  literature, 
in  some  degree,  commensurate  with  its  achieve- 
ments. 

He  who  would  aspire  to  record  the  deeds  of 
his  forefathers,  to  report  the  events  of  daily  life, 
to  enshrine  a  gracious  memory,  to  arouse  a  nobler 
ambition,  must  prepare  himself  to  m?.ke  his  writ- 
ten expression  worthy  of  the  deed  or  thought  he 
would  fasten  down  in  print. 


80 


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